Russian opposition leader and TV host Ksenia Sobchak (R) talks to the media after leaving a building of the Russian Investigative Committee in Moscow June 15, 2012. Police showed up on Sobchak's doorstep at 8 a.m. in the middle of a sleepy long weekend and started a search. They spent hours in her apartment on Monday, going through the belongings of the 30-year-old TV personality, socialite and restaurateur before she had a chance to get properly dressed, Sobchak recounted to a Moscow radio station on Wednesday. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

‘Russia’s Paris Hilton’ Goes Up Against Putin In Presidential Election

Television host Ksenia Sobchak has announced her intention to run in Russia’s presidential election next year in a move many believe is orchestrated by the Kremlin.

Sobchak is a socialite described as “Russia’s Paris Hilton.” She is the daughter of Anatoly Sobchak, the former mayor of St. Petersburg, who picked now-President Vladimir Putin as his deputy in the 1990s.

Ksenia Sobchak said she wants a different Russia that moves closer to Europe if she wins the election.

“Over the past 17 years a whole new generation has grown up that wants to see a different Russia that is civilized and European,” she said in an interview on Russia’s TV Rain, The Guardian reports.

Sobchak’s father has been described as a political mentor to Putin. Russian media have previously reported that the candidacy was planned to steal votes from other opposition candidates.

“This is a lie,” Sobchak said, according to The Guardian. “I have not had any direct or indirect contact with the presidential administration about this. I don’t need their blessings, I can decide what to do for myself.”

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, a known Putin critic, received his third jail of the year earlier this month for attempting to organize a rally outside Moscow.

“20 days in jail. Old man Putin got so scared of our rallies in the regions and decided to make himself a little present for himself for his birthday,” Navalny said in a tweet after receiving his sentence.

Navalny and his business partner allegedly misappropriated around $500,000 worth of lumber from a state-owned company, according to a 2013 ruling. Navalny claims the case was fabricated to stop him from advancing his political career.

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